While he has been a starter in the past, the 28-year-old Marshall has quietly emerged as one of the top left-handed set-up men in the game, posting an outstanding 2.52 ERA and 133/34 K/BB ratio since the start of the 2010 season. The 2003 sixth-round pick has a 2.40 ERA and 43/9 K/BB ratio over 41 1/3 innings this season.

The Cubs bought out Marshall’s final two years of arbitration this winter by signing him to a two-year, $4.7 million contract. He’s still owed roughly half of his $1.6 million salary for this season and will make $3.1 million in 2012.

You may be asking yourself why the Cubs would want to pay that much to a reliever if they aren’t in contention. And it’s a fair question. But as Olney tweeted earlier today, the market for relievers is going to be saturated around the deadline. Even though it sounds like the Cubs may want to keep Marshall in good faith, they would probably be better served to wait if they want to get a quality prospect or two in return.

No; the Cubs want to unload the Dempster Dumpster and his $14M contract through next season, as well as headcase Carlos Zambrano. Of the two though, the Dumpster is the more likely to draw interest, I would think mainly from AL clubs (as the AL hasn’t seen much of him).